News & Campaigns

All the latest from HER-itage and our affiliates

Make the #RightToKnow an electoral issue – IKWRO

Call on your parliamentary candidates to commit to ensuring that every school is made “honour” based violence forced marriage and FGM safe

This is about keeping young people safe. We have no time to waste. Help us make sure that as soon as parliament recommences after the election, our new MP’s are committed to getting straight to work on making sure that every school is made “honour” based violence, forced marriage and FGM safe.

Find out more about why this is important and what MPs need to do here.

In the run up to the election your parliamentary candidates will be out and about seeking your support and they will be keen to know about what matters to you. Call on them; at your doorstep, at public meetings and on twitter using the hashtag #RightToKnow, to commit to ensuring that every school is made “honour” based violence, forced marriage and FGM safe.

Please let us know how your parliamentary candidates respond by emailing Sara, our Campaigns Officer Sara.Browne@ikwro.org.uk or by contacting us on twitter @IKWRO using #RightToKnow or via Facebook www.facebook.com/IKWRO.

Together we can end “honour” based violence, forced marriage and FGM.

http://ikwro.org.uk/2015/04/righttoknow-electoral-issue/

April 9, 2015

17 April 2015 ~ Call for Case studies for New Equality and Human Rights toolkit for women deadline – Women’s Resource Centre

The aim of this new WRC project is to produce a practical on-line toolkit aimed at women and women’s organisations to help them use human rights and equality laws for campaigning and lobbying in the UK at local level. We hope this will be an invaluable tool to make positive change for women in access to and provision of services, control over resources, women-only spaces, violence against women, representation and decision-making, etc.

In order to make the toolkit relevant and grounded in women’s experience, we are calling for mini case-studies which illustrate the successes and challenges women have had in using the human rights and equality law to help them. We are looking for short “stories” that outline what happened, the context, what women were hoping to achieve, challenges they faced, how they used rights and equality laws to achieve the outcomes, and factors involved in achieving success (or otherwise!) All material will be non-attributable and names can be changed if required. Please let me know how we should credit you or your organisation for your support and contribution. Your organisation’s details will also appear in the resource and contacts list presented at the end of each section.

We are also looking for relevant images, photos, and links to other online resources that we can use or reference after each section.

The topics are as follows:
* The Human Rights Act;
* The Equality Act;
* Using the Law to challenge decisions to make change for women;
* Influencing Locally.

If you have any material of this kind I would be very grateful if you could email it to me as the consultant designing and developing this project.

The deadline is Friday 17 April 2015.

If you would like further information, or can suggest any other people we should contact for information, please email or call me on 02083785362 or mobile 07712 836862.

We hope this will be a free, practical, accessible and exciting new tool for your organisations and your members.

Jane Esuantsiwa Goldsmith
Anona Development Consultancy
Tel: 0208 378 5362
www.anonadevelopment.co.uk

April 9, 2015

9 October 2015 9.30 ~ Safeguarding : Challenging Attitudes And Opening Minds – Soroptimist International Yorkshire Anti-Slavery Group – Leeds

Until 4.00pm at Thorpe Park Hotel & Spa, 1150 Century Way, Thorpe Park, Leeds, LS15 8ZB
£45.00 to include parking, lunch and refreshments

Soroptimist International (SI) is a global organisation for women working in partnership with other organisations to improve the status and uphold the rights of women and girls. It has General Consultative Status at the UN and is represented at all the major UN centres, including the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York. The SI Yorkshire Anti-Slavery Group focusses specifically on issues such as grooming, sexual exploitation and safe relationships. We have distributed over 75,000 thousand ‘Loves me Loves me not’ bookmarks to schools, colleges and universities, and organisations working with children and young people.

A key concern is that sexual exploitation is becoming normalised. Further to our two very successful conferences on grooming for, and safeguarding against sexual exploitation, we are holding a third in October that will look at changing the mindsets – the beliefs, attitudes and stereotypes – that underpin this outrageous behaviour. Only by changing the way people think can we hope to change their behaviour.

Our speakers and presenters have been invited because of their expertise and work in the field of sexual exploitation and gender stereotyping, and we believe we’ve put together a very informative, hard hitting programme. We are especially pleased that a group of young people have accepted our invitation to show us, through an interactive presentation, how gender stereotyping feeds into violent behaviour. We urge you to join us, to learn and share your ideas about how to challenge destructive mindsets and nip sexual exploitation in the bud, before any damage is done. You will be well fed and watered with unlimited refreshments and a two course lunch – and you can park your car for free! Please come. We look forward to welcoming you.

A formal invitation, booking details and information about the venue will be sent in July. In the meantime, please save the date – Friday 9th October 2015. And please forward the date to colleagues and associates who share your concerns about sexual exploitation.

April 9, 2015

20 April 2015 19.30 ~ A Night Of Political Comedy – Stand Up for Women Benefit- London

A night of political comedy with Award Winning Comedians Kate Smurthwaite, Chris Coltrane, Joe Wells, Grainne Maguire and Maureen Younger, MC.

In support of 50:50 Parliament and DAME! THOSE MPs – www.sufw.org.uk/dames – a fun game with a serious message.

£10.00 + £1.00 Booking fee = £11.00
Tickets are available at http://www.wegottickets.com/event/314755

16 and over @ The Old Queens Head, The Old Queens Head, 44 Essex Rd, Islington, N1 8LN

See more at http://www.sufw.org.uk/events

April 2, 2015